You can still be a family person and be a successful entrepreneur
July 2, 2008 by andy · Leave a Comment
Successful entrepreneurs have a reputation as being all work, cold souls, and little time for families, but the Chris Cardell Entrepreneur Summit held at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London last weekend presented a very different story.
Some of the world’s wealthiest entrepreneurs gathered in London last weekend and shared knowledge, experience and the mindset needed to drive their businesses forward to achieve an even higher level of success. There was a clear message that even the most successful entrepreneurs value the time with their families, and some even identified that in their journey to success, not having time for a family was one of their biggest regrets.
UK Government to crack down on underage drinking, targeting parents, but it’s not that easy
June 3, 2008 by andy · Leave a Comment
The British Government has announced plans to tackle the increasing problem of underage drinking, and is planning to prosecute parents who allow their children to drink in public.
If proposals became law, anyone under the age of 18 “regularly” found with alcohol on their possession could face getting an ASBO (Anti-Social Behaviour Order).
Parents who are unable to change their ways could either be prosecuted, or sent on parenting courses. However, the problem isn’t that simple, say a number of parents as well as opposition ministers.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said that, “parents must play their role. I want to see greater use of parenting orders and parenting contracts and anti-social behaviour orders when young people are caught persistently drinking in public. If parents and children need to meet a trained worker to get them back on the right track then so be it.”
I know that the police will already move on groups of teenagers who are, or have the potential, to cause a nuisance, particularly as a result of alcohol.
Of course parenting plays a role in a child’s upbringing, but there are so many other factors that influence someone’s attitude to and consumption of alcohol — the increasing number of “alcopops” and other “soft” alcoholic drinks, peer pressure from friends, portrayal of alcohol in the media and popular TV, and the increasingly ingrained drinking culture are key issues.
Legislation may look good on paper, and may prove to be somewhat effective, but the real issues run deep in society, and unfortunately even good parenting doesn’t always protect children.
The Government also plans to draw up guidelines for how much alcohol it is safe for children to consume under supervision of their parents at home.
(Via BBC News)
“Being Dad”: call for fathers to take part in documentary
June 3, 2008 by andy · Leave a Comment
Dads with children aged 0-3 are wanted to take part in a new documentary series.
“Being Dad” is the “dadumentary” DVD that delivers real information to Dads to demystify the whole process – and is now being filmed for Dads in Ireland, Scotland and England.
Dads can be any age, and filming takes place over the next couple of months in five locations: Central London, Bath, Manchester, Edinburgh, and Dublin.
The documentary makers explain:
“Filming takes about two hours and you’ll join five other dads in a relaxed environment talking about everything from conception to birth and bringing the baby home. We’ll provide you with free food and plenty of beers. This is a great opportunity to be a part of the first UK and Irish film that inspires and informs future dads to be. This will make a great heirloom, will get you in your partner’s good books, as well as making sure that future dads can legitimately avoid the pregnancy manuals!”
For more details email Victoria Newlands at victoria@nobull-communications.co.uk or phone 01628 526208.
Filming dates are:
Central London: Friday, June 20 / Tuesday, July 1 @ 6.30pm
Bath: Sunday, June 22 @ 4.30pm
Manchester: Tuesday, June 24 @ 6.30pm
Edinburgh: Wednesday, June 25 @ 6.30pm
Dublin: Friday, June 27 @ 6.30pm
Three-quarters of small businesses in UK offer flexible work options for parents
It’s not difficult to see how modern working practices put a strain on family relationships, but at least nearly three-quarters of small and medium-sized businesses in the UK are attempting to make things easier for parents by offering more flexible working options.
Over half of working mums said they’d want to work away from the office, while nearly nine in ten dads said the same.
Dads said that flexible working would make the most positive difference to their family life in the first year after their child’s birth.
Family holidays most stressful events for mums
March 28, 2008 by andy · Leave a Comment
Far from being an enjoyable prelude to a relaxing break, planning the family holiday is likely to leave mums feeling stressed and tempted not to go away at all, according to new research from Holiday-Rentals.co.uk. The survey of over 1,000 UK mums has revealed that 84% are left to plan the family holiday by themselves, with 60% finding it a stressful experience. The problem has reached such an extent that many have considered not going away at all due to the stress of trying to plan the perfect getaway.
The research has found that, behind moving house and preparing for Christmas, planning a family holiday is the most stressful event in most mums’ lives. To help ease the pressure, Holiday-Rentals.co.uk has developed the Mums’ Holiday Guide, offering advice on everything from choosing the right location, to packing and how to get the rest of the family involved in organising the holiday. The Mums’ Holiday Guide is free to download from www.Holiday-Rentals.co.uk/MumsHolidayGuide and has been created with advice and top tips from real mums, allowing everyone to benefit from the nations collective experience!
The survey found that the journey to and from the holiday destination is the most stressful part of a family holiday, with almost a third (29%) of mums stating that long flights, cramped car journeys and claustrophobic ferry trips cause anxiety. Making sure that everyone has packed the right things and organising passports and paperwork also top the list of holiday hassles.
Although it is overwhelmingly mums (84%) that organise the family holiday, many do get a helping hand from the rest of the family once they arrive. When on a self-catering holiday nearly half (47%) of mums share tasks with the rest of the family, compared to a mere fifth (22%) when at home. Typically Dad lends a hand by barbequing, helping to prepare meals and washing up, while everyone helps to keep the place tidy.
Accommodation also proved to be a major bone of contention, with many mums complaining about inadequate facilities or arriving to find they hadn’t quite got what they booked!
One disgruntled mum commented, “My worst holiday ever was when we arrived and discovered, having booked two interconnecting rooms, we hadn’t got them. My two-and-a-half year old daughter was put in a room on her own with double doors to fire escape which didn’t lock and the heating didn’t go above 17 degrees!”
Another said, “Don’t assume anything! We thought going to a well-known family holiday camp would be fun. How wrong we were; the caravan stunk to high heaven, the camp was tacky and the entertainment was awful! We won’t be doing that again!”
With its easy to use website listing over 45,000 properties worldwide, Holiday-Rentals.co.uk makes finding the perfect accommodation easy, and has created the Mums Holiday Guide to help make the planning process smoother for busy mums too. With advice on destinations and tips to take the pain out of planning, the guide contains everything mums need to make sure they enjoy their holiday too!
Greg Grant, UK MD for Holiday-Rentals.co.uk said, “Based on the results of our research, it’s not surprising that mums can find holidays stressful! We can’t force other members of the family to help mum more on holiday, but we have done everything we can to help take the pain out of planning with our Mums Holiday Guide.”
Renting a holiday home provides families more space, privacy, comprehensive facilities, and the flexibility to take time out for themselves. Unlike hotel rooms, holiday homes give kids space to breathe and parents freedom to relax in another room, but everyone is still under the same roof.
With a wide range of accommodation available, users of Holiday-Rentals.co.uk can choose the type and size of property they want for any destination they’d like to visit. The website is easy to navigate and all properties have at least four colour photos and a detailed description of what guests can expect.
More than a Mum? A free event for mums who want to change their lives
A special free event for mums of all ages is being held in York on Friday 18th April 2008. The event is a one-stop shop allowing mums to investigate new options for positive living.
The event includes zones on pampering, learning, self-employment, volunteering and parenting support. A number of workshops on confidence-building and creative writing are also offered.
Any mums who turn up with children are able to go away with a free photograph of their little one.
Catherine Holmes explains, “When I finally overcame post-natal depression and workplace bullying, there was no one place to go to find out what to do next. This is how I came up with the idea of More than a Mum”
The venue is the 650 year old Merchant Adventurers Hall in central York. The doors open at 10am and close at 4pm.
Protect Your Adolescents Against More Than Just A Cold This Winter
February 27, 2008 by andy · Leave a Comment
As a parent, you often take extra health precautions to protect your child from “winter” illnesses such as colds and the flu, but the National Meningitis Association (NMA) wants to be sure you know about one preventative health measure that is often overlooked — vaccination against meningococcal disease.
Meningococcal disease, commonly called meningitis, is a potentially deadly bacterial infection that can strike adolescents and young adults. The disease moves quickly and can lead to death or permanent disability, such as brain damage, organ failure or limb amputations, within hours of first symptoms. While meningococcal disease can occur at any point throughout the year, cases peak in the late-winter and early-spring months reinforcing the importance of seeking vaccination this time of year rather than waiting for back-to-school physicals.
Study suggests higher levels of antisocial behaviour in children of mothers with depression
This study sits rather uneasily with me, though it’s worth bearing in mind that I only had access to a few brief paragraphs, rather than the entire paper.
However, for what it’s worth, researchers at King’s College, London, studied 1,116 sets of twins, finding much higher levels of antisocial behaviour in 7-year-olds whose mothers had suffered depression during the child’s first five years of life.
The greatest risk of “problem behaviours” were in children of mothers who also exhibited signs of antisocial personality disorder.
Top 10 health topics parents wish their doctor would discuss with kids
A recent study has discovered the most important topics that parents would like their doctor to talk to their teenage children about during routine check-ups.
While there were differences between different ethnic groups and genders, these were the top ten most popular subjects overall:
- Diet/nutrition
- Exercise/sports
- Physical changes of puberty
- Drug use
- Tobacco use
- Sexually transmitted disease
- Depression/suicide
- Obesity
- Drinking
- Eating disorders
Celeb Watch: Christina Aguilera, Nicole Richie, Cheryl and Ashley Cole
January 31, 2008 by andy · 2 Comments
Christina Aguilera and Nicole Richie are both enticing a number of high-profile publications who want the right to print the first photos of their babies. Marie Claire reports:
A bidding war has erupted between OK! and People magazine for the first pictures of Christina’s son Max Liron, and the asking price has already reached $1.5 million.
Nicole Richie and Joel Madden have already signed a deal with People magazine, where they will get $1 million for the photo debut of daughter Harlow Winter Kate.
I wonder at the lives of the rich and famous, yet the bidding war is only active because the magazines know that large sections of the general public want to see the photos. No doubt they’ll be leaked onto the Internet anyway. So much for the privacy of kids with famous parents.
Meanwhile, Cheryl Cole is being urged by her family and friends to leave husband Ashley, after claims from at least two women that he had affairs with them:
The latest claim comes from glamour model, Brook Healy, who is alleged to have been approached by Cole in December 2006 at London’s Funky Buddha club - just five months after the Coles’ marriage - and later slept with the footballer.
The Girls Aloud star [Cheryl] stated: “I was furious… but I’m determined to be strong. Ashley’s a wonderful husband and we’re in love. I won’t let this woman destroy our marriage.”
WellChild Helpline launched: UK’s only national children’s health advice line
January 22, 2008 by andy · Leave a Comment
The children’s charity WellChild today announced the launch of the WellChild Helpline, designed to offer comprehensive help and advice to anyone concerned about the health and well-being of children.
Staffed by a team of trained healthcare professionals from a variety of disciplines, callers will either have questions answered, or efficiently passed to the most appropriate organisation.
BBC1’s Breakfast programme’s GP, Dr Rosemary Leonard, endorsed the WellChild Helpline, saying, “WellChild’s new service is extremely welcome as accessing the right information can seem daunting and not having access to concerns about health can cause a lot of anxiety. By having this multi-disciplinary team of experts at the end of a phone-line or email, WellChild will be putting people in touch with the right health information which could ultimately lead to saved lives as well as an enormous improvement in the quality of many more.”
Citinannies.net Helps to Filter Frauds and Scams for Families Seeking Care
Household employment is increasing for families who continually strive for a manageable balance between life and work. For many people, the solution to managing the pressures and the obligations is to hire household staff to work in the home. Most domestic placement agency services can run into the hundreds, or even thousands of dollars, ranging from $700 to $4,000 per placement. What happens when a family is not happy with the placement agency’s selection of nannies? Generally, there is very little recourse. Would it be very difficult for a family to search for household help without using an agency? How would a family weed out frauds and scams? Are the tools of the trade available and easily accessible?
Citinannies.net was created to connect families and top quality caregivers nationwide. Whether a family needs a nanny for their children, a personal assistant or even a butler to bring cocktails poolside, Citinannies.net can help. Citinannies.net is the first online domestic placement service to utilize an advanced identity authentication process without entering a credit card number or requesting intrusive information such as the registrant’s full social security number. The patent pending privacy tool prescreens all caregivers and families to help filter out the frauds and scrams that put loved ones at risk.
Families simply register, post the specific domestic requirements and qualifications, and pass the Citinannies.net authentication process. Once the authentication process has been completed, the pool of quality caregivers are available with a click of the mouse. New caregivers are added daily, so the selection is never stale. In addition, Citinannies.net has trusted partners that offer services including criminal background checks, online continuing education courses and easy ways to pay caregivers without hiring an accountant. After all, finding household help that is tailored to a family’s lifestyle can be overwhelming.
As President of CitiNannies LLC, Jennifer Nguyen states, “I wanted to make the search for care easier for families, and at the same time, filter out fraudulent registrants, identity thieves, and fraud schemes that become rampant on the internet. We are taking one step further to assure families are more comfortable using the internet to find exceptional help for their loved ones.” Being a single mother, Jennifer realizes the importance of finding top quality caregivers. Hiring and entrusting caregivers can improve the quality of life immensely, without sacrificing the commitments. Recall the last time an emergency situation arose and a reliable sitter was not available? Think citinannies.net. Do it right. This is the most important hiring decision a family could ever make.
For caregivers seeking employment opportunities, the registration process is free. Simply agree to be bound by Citinannies’ professional code of ethics, register and post a profile. In addition, passing the Citinannies.net identity authentication process is also a prerequisite for all caregivers. Imagine, no more agency fees or commissions taken out of the paycheck. No more answering blind newspaper ads or attending embarrassing career fairs. Imagine an easier way to connect with potential families who are serious about searching for care and willing to pay top dollar for exceptional care?
For information: CitiNannies.net
